Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When Harry was at the urinal, another boy rushed into the bathroom, yelling something over his shoulder. His blue eyes shone with mischief and he shook his feathery brown hair out of his eyes. He rushed over to one of the sinks and hurriedly started fixing his hair, combing his messy fringe out of his eyes. Harry finished up at the urinal, having a little bit of trouble because he couldn't take his eyes off the other boy. They met eyes in the mirror as Harry stumbled slightly, grabbing onto the counter for support.
"Oops," he muttered, feeling a blush heating up his cheeks as he quickly washed his hands.
The other boy laughed. "Hi. I'm Louis."
"'M Harry," he replied, putting his hand out for a shake.
Louis shook his head. "Nah, I don't do handshakes. C'mere."
He stepped forward and pulled Harry into a hug. Because they were about the same height, he could tuck his head into Harry's shoulder. They hugged for a little longer than necessary before reluctantly pulling away, slowly taking their arms off each other.
"Um, can I get a picture with you?" Louis asked, scratching the back of his neck.
Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "Why?"
"Because you look like you're gonna be famous one day, and I want the first fan picture," said Louis.
Harry grinned shyly, ruffling his hair with one hand. "Sure...if you want."
"Cool. Let's get out of the bathroom, though."
Slipping into the hallway, Louis stopped a woman walking past and gave her his phone. He gave her very specific instructions to take a good shot, or Louis would make her take more until they got a good one.
"Smile, Harry," he murmured, and both boys displayed wide smiles for the camera.
The lady handed Louis' phone back and walked off. Louis admired the picture, showing it to Harry as well.
"Thank you," he said gratefully.
Harry grinned. "No problem. It was nice meeting you."
"Yeah," Louis agreed. "See you 'round."
They lingered for a moment before parting ways, and it was only when Harry was back in his room that he realised Louis had greeted the lady with a handshake.

Chapter Text

Louis pulled Harry into the X Factor house's common room, yelling a greeting to the other contestants. He got a few replies, but mostly everyone was involved in various conversations. He collapsed onto the couch, and with a little tug Harry followed seconds after, landing half on his lap. Louis spread his legs a little so Harry could settle between them and lean back against his chest. They stayed in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, focusing on the way Louis mindlessly ran his fingers up Harry's arm and back down again, until Harry broke the silence.
"Lou, do you know what song you're going to do next?" he asked.
"Mm...I have no idea," Louis said softly. "I've got a bit of time, though."
"Okay," said Harry.
It was quiet for a minute as Harry shifted upward so he could nestle into Louis' neck rather than his chest. It a bit more comfortable for both of them.
"Wouldn't it be cool if we both make it through?" Harry said, a bit of excitement in his low tones.
Louis nodded, resuming his caresses where he'd stopped while Harry was moving. "Yeah. And if it ever went further than the X Factor, we'd be like those celebrities that have a celebrity best friend," he chuckled.
Harry laughed softly. "That's assuming I even get past this round."
"Hey." Louis pouted, looking down at Harry as he squeezed the younger boy a little tighter. "We all know if any of us make it, it'll be you. Or Mary."
Harry shook his head in disagreement. He moved again, turning over so they were chest to chest and he could look Louis in the eye. "Well you've got this amazing thing in your voice...I don't know. You're gonna go a long way," Harry said truthfully.
Louis smiled widely, his eyes crinkling beautifully in the corners. He didn't reply, only pulled Harry's face back to his neck with the feeling of being so, so blessed to have this boy in his life. With a feeling of satisfaction for making Louis happy, Harry grinned and closed his eyes.

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Everyone in the house had been given a day off, and Louis and Harry spent it at the shopping centre. They dropped things into random people' carts and stuck googly eyes on various objects. They'd even come across a few people who recognised them, and happily gave out photos and autographs. It really boosted their confidence every time someone came up to them, and before long they were drunk on excitement.
Louis spotted the trolley collection, where all the shopping carts stayed when they weren't in use. Of course, he couldn't just walk away from them.
"Hey, Harry, I wanna ride in the trolleys!" he said.
Harry grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. "Really? In a trolley?"
"Shut up." Louis shoved at his shoulder. "Doggy style all the way," he joked.
They both laughed, pulling a trolley each out of the stack.
"So...down this isle here?" Harry suggested.
Louis nodded. "Yep. First one past the toilet paper section wins."

Lining up against at the end of the isle, Louis and Harry counted down and pushed off, whooping with joy as the wind pulled their hair back. Harry cackled as his cart crashed into the shelf, sending a few tissue boxes flying, and Louis zoomed past him. A few minutes and countless fits of laughter later, Louis got out of his trolley and went back to Harry. Luckily the younger boy was still intact and safely inside his trolley, but there were packs of toilet paper all over him and the floor. Louis pushed some of them away and steadied the trolley while Harry climbed out, leaping forward at the last minute to grab Harry's arm when he nearly listed over.
They leaned against each other giddily while they caught their breath, until eventually Louis said, "I win. You lose, you have to clean up."
And to see the triumphant grin on Louis' face, Harry really didn't mind.

Chapter Text

Louis was sprawled on the couch, his feet propped up on Mary's lap with his hand resting on Harry's shoulder who was sitting on the floor against the couch. Zayn was sat on the arm of the couch on Mary's side, Matt and Aiden had claimed an armchair each, Cher was lying on the floor with a pillow, and the rest of the contestants were scattered in various positions around the room.
They were having a house movie night after the last elimination which had been stressful for everyone, so they all wanted to relax. Unfortunately, both movies so far had been chosen by the girls and Harry (Mamma Mia and The Vow) and Louis was a little bored. He let his gaze sweep over the room, the fingers of one hand lazily playing with one of Harry's curls. Every time he straightened it out and let it go, the hair just snapped back into a tight curl. It was very entertaining.

Harry snuffled and tilted his head back against the couch cushion, and Louis slowly let his fingers move into his hair. Harry smiled as Louis started to gently rub his head, leaning back into the touch.
"Lou," he whined softly. "'M trying to watch the movie."
"Just playing with your hair Harry," Louis whispered back.
Harry just grunted and focused back on the television. With his attention diverted, Louis sat up and put one leg either side of Harry for better access. He started to carefully massage Harry's head, squeezing his knees either side of Harry until he sighed contentedly and relaxed against Louis' legs.

When Harry accidentally let out a little whimper as Louis gently used his nails, Zayn's head flicked towards them. He smiled fondly and shook his head, looking away. Louis chuckled, glancing down to see Harry's eyes closed with a blissful look on his face. He really liked the idea of being able to give Harry this state of relaxation. Harry's hair was soft and his back was warm against Louis' legs. Louis didn't mind the movie choice anymore - he had other things he could focus on.

Chapter Text

"Hey, Harry."
Louis chewed his lip, glancing across the street to a small tattoo parlour. Harry followed his gaze before looking back at his face.
"What is it?" he asked.
"We should get tattoos," said Louis. "I've always wanted one."
Harry frowned thoughtfully. "What would you get?"
They crossed the road to the side the parlour was on and walked slowly towards it. There were intricate black designs around the sign, obviously meant to look like ink.
"I don't know..." said Louis. He looked a little nervous. "I think- I want to get one with you. Like, matching. If that's okay."
After thinking for a minute, Harry nodded. "I suppose...maybe a small one, though?"
Louis nodded gratefully. "Really? That's great. Thanks."
"Did you have anything in mind?" asked Harry.
"Well, um." Louis hesitated, and Harry gestured for him to go on. "I was thinking about getting 'oops' on one of my arms somewhere, because um...that's the first word you said when we met."
Harry cooed, giving Louis a little nudge. "Aw, you remembered? I'm not sure if 'oops' counts as an actual word, but okay."
Louis scowled, trying to make the furious blush on his cheeks go away.
"Hmm...we were in the bathroom, and...'hi'! You said 'hi'! That's what I'll get."
Harry grinned proudly, and Louis felt an unknown feeling build up in his chest. Time seemed to pass faster than usual and before he knew it, Louis was pushing past the door, holding it for Harry, and they were in the little shop. A bell tinkled as they entered and a heavily inked man looked up from his magazine behind the counter.
"How can I help you?" he asked.
Louis rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, we want to get matching tattoos. 'Oops' and 'hi'."
The man nodded, putting his magazine down and shuffling through some things out of sight. "Do you know what font you'd like?"
"I don't know," Harry hummed. "Didn't really think about it."
"We get a lot of couples that have each other's handwriting, if that's something you're interested in?" the man suggested.
Harry and Louis chuckled, glancing at each other. "We're not together," said Harry, taking his arm off Louis' shoulders.
The man shrugged. "Could've fooled me, sorry."
"It's okay," said Louis. "But...I think the handwriting is a good idea." He looked at Harry for confirmation, and the younger boy nodded.

Before long, the boys had written out 'OOPS!' and 'Hi', and the stencils were made. The man took about an hour to do both tattoos (they held each other's hands during the painful parts, of course) and lectured them about how to care for their new ink.
Harry smiled so wide his face hurt as he inspected the small word across his inner arm. He loved it already. Louis admired their red skin too, and he couldn't decide which one he liked more. His own, because it represented Harry, or Harry's, because it showed the world that Louis was important enough to be etched permanently into his skin? Louis settled on liking them both equally.
As they left the parlour, Harry turned around and gave Louis a one-armed hug, careful not to touch either of their tender arms. "Thank you," he said.
Louis smiled into his neck. "Thank you."